Nick Kyrgios formulates 4 ideas for how to radically change Grand Slam events
Nick Kyrgios has proposed three radical changes to the four Grand Slam tournaments – ranging from the scoring format to fan access.
The Australian has brought his unique style to tennis, both on and off the court.
His ‘expressive’ behaviour has produced many critics, but it cannot be denied that Kyrgios is one of the biggest crowd drawers.
The former Wimbledon finalist – whilst speaking to the Tennis Channel – formulated four radical changes that he would make to the Grand Slam tournaments.
“I think it would make the first week a lot more interesting and a lot more upsets, it would fix all the scheduling problems,” Kyrgios began with.
“I think that would be good.”
At the moment, the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open are all best-of-five set tournaments throughout and often see fewer upsets than tournaments of a lower category.
Kyrgios then looked to the National Basketball Association – of which the Australian is a fan – for his second proposed change to the Grand Slam tournaments.
“I think like how the NBA pre-game the game, the game starts on Centre Court,” he stated.
“The fans can be more interactive with players, I think – if you are on stadium – you should have a 15-minute warm-up so you can interact with some of the celebrities.
“I think that would be more content for the sport, I think that would be cool.
“I know that the outside courts won’t have that, but if you are lucky enough to play on stadium you have an extended warm-up, it’s more interactive.
“I think tennis needs to get into that more modern day, how the sports are now and needs more content and fun.”
At the moment, according to the ITF’s rule book, each warm-up is to last five minutes before play must begin.
The Next Gen Finals have sought to experiment with such a change, but attempted to reduce the length of warm-ups to three minutes.
For his third hypothical Grand Slam change, Kyrgios suggested: “Why don’t we have walk-on songs?”
“Why is the screen not playing highlights of the player who is walking on?
“I think we are not really maximizing content for our players and making them feel like, these guys are on the Centre Court in Miami, they are at the absolute top of their sport.
“We need to feel like that from time to time.”
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Lastly, the Australian proposed that tennis fans be given greater access to the superstars of the sport – rather than simply via official press conferences.
“The other day I did five different little media segments,” commented the former Wimbledon finalist.
“When you look at the NBA, I would be very okay giving locker room access for media.
“I think you get the raw emotions.”
Kyrgios is a frequent user of social media, and often interacts with fans – and critics, for that matter.
